Tarkowski: Burnley contract ‘nowhere near good enough’

Will Ford
Tarkowski Leicester

James Tarkowski says Burnley’s contract offer was “nowhere near good enough” as he seeks a move away from the club.

The 27-year-old is nearing the final 18 months of his current deal and was offered new terms last season and again this summer when offers from the likes of Everton and Leicester were rejected.


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Tarkowski insists he will keep giving his all for Burnley but admits he is unlikely to stay past the summer of 2022.

“Burnley offered me a contract near the start of last season, which, for me personally, it was nowhere near what I was going to sign and I think the club understood. And they’ve come back again this year, and still, for me, it’s just not right,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“Finances do matter, but, at this particular stage, whatever path I take I will get financially rewarded so the financial side is not even in my thinking at the moment. It’s more about my football.”

“We’ve had two transfer windows now where the club have decided, for whatever reason, that whatever has been offered on the table hasn’t been enough and that’s fine because I signed a contract for four-and-a-half years. So I won’t whinge or not turn up, I just need to deal with it and get on with my football.

“But the longer my contract runs down, I feel I gain the control of my career more than Burnley having the control of it, which is what I feel like I need right now.

“There is nothing I have heard or has been put to me that makes me think there is a scenario in which I would sign a new contract at Burnley. That can change, but currently that is the situation.”

Mark Smith and Matt Stead know all about disappointments. Join them to discover that Chelsea are the only Big Six club without representation on this week’s top ten.